Characteristics of Highly Gifted Individuals

In Growing Up Gifted, Dr. Barbara Clark reviewed the research of Dahlberg, Gross, Koppel, Lovecky and Silverman, and listed the following as characteristics commonly found among highly gifted individuals.

• An extraordinary speed in processing information.



• A rapid and thorough comprehension of the whole idea or concept.



• An unusual ability to perceive essential elements and underlying structures and patterns in relationships and ideas.



• A need for precision in thinking and expression.



• An ability to relate to a broad range of ideas and synthesize commonalties among them.



• A high degree of ability to think abstractly that develops early.



• Appreciation of complexity; finding myriad alternative meanings in even the most simple issues or problems.



• An ability to learn in an integrative, intuitive, nonlinear manner.



• An extraordinary degree of intellectual curiosity.



• An unusual capacity for memory.



• A long concentration span.



• A fascination with ideas and words.



• An extensive vocabulary.



• Ability to perceive many sides of an issue.



• Argumentativeness.



• Advanced visual and motor skills.



• An ability from an early age to think in metaphors and symbols and a preference for doing so.



• Ability to visualize models and systems.



• Ability to learn in great intuitive leaps.



• Highly idiosyncratic interpretations of events.



• Awareness of detail.



• Unusual intensity and depth of feeling.



• A high degree of emotional sensitivity.



• Highly developed morals and ethics and early concern for moral and existential issues.



• Unusual and early insight into social and moral issues.



• An ability to empathetically understand and relate to ideas and other people.



• An extraordinarily high energy level.



• A need for the world to be logical and fair.



• Conviction of correctness of personal ideas and beliefs.

As Silverman notes, "it may be nearly impossible for highly gifted children to conform their thinking to the ways in which others think. Some do not 'group' well. Some have difficulty developing relations with others. Some argue continuously because that is the way they learn. Some are intensely sensitive. Some have major discrepancies between their intellectual maturity and motor coordination and so appear 'immature.'" All of them are highly vulnerable and at risk.

The Scholarship Question

Happy Thanksgiving!

The PEG staff joins me in wishing you and your family a very safe and happy start to this year's holiday season.

I've decided that this installment of the PEG Blog should cover a subject near and dear to every college student's heart, the scholarship.

Mary Baldwin does offer very generous merit scholarships to all incoming students (yes, that does include potential PEG students) in varying amounts from $5,000 to $13,000 based upon a student's current GPA and SAT or ACT scores. In fact, most entering PEG students receive either $11,000 or $13,000 by virtue of their high GPA's and test scores. However, I can well understand that even these generous scholarship amounts, though renewable every year as long as the student remains in good academic standing, may not be enough for a family to be secure in their decision to send their young daughter to college.

The good news? There are scholarships out there, you just have to know where to look.

If your daughter is under the age of 13, then the process of finding an outside scholarship might be more difficult.

"None of the online scholarship databases includes information about college scholarships that are available only to children under age 13 because of federal privacy laws. The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), 15 USC 6501, and the Children's Privacy Protection Final Rule, require web sites to obtain "verifiable parental consent" before collecting, using or disclosing individually identifiable information from children under age 13. This effectively prevents online scholarship databases from matching students under age 13 with college scholarships. Because of the difficulties in obtaining consent, all of the scholarship databases avoid the problem by omitting scholarships for underage children from their databases and refusing to register users under age 13."

This information is according to www.finaid.org. However, they also have a listing of scholarships for children who are younger than 13. Please visit this website to see a list of those scholarships.

http://www.finaid.org/scholarships/age13.phtml


Fortunately, the process is easier for children who are age 13 and older. Fast Web is a wonderful scholarships search engine that allows students and their families to learn about prospective scholarships by typing in their personal information, and from that day forward a list of those scholarships that the student may be eligible for will be delivered to the student's email everyday.

There are also other private options to consider. The Davidson Fellows scholarship program, established in 2001, recognizes exceptional students and supports them in the fulfillment
of their potential. Each year, Fellows are awarded scholarships of $50,000, $25,000 or $10,000 and are recognized for their achievements at a special awards reception in Washington, D.C. The deadline for the 2008 Davidson Fellows Scholarship is March 26, 2008.
To be eligible to apply the 2008 Davidson Fellows Scholarship, applicants must be under the age of 18 as of October 1, 2008. For more information about this scholarship program please visit http://www.ditdservices.org/Articles.aspx?ArticleID=36&NavID=1_0 .

Of course, this entry only represents a small sample of the scholarships that are available. I will continue to search and other scholarships will be posted here as well.